The first amendment of the Constitution of the United States gives its citizens the right to free speech, but like all laws it is not absolute. Reporters have been known to claim a Reporter’s Privilege,which is supposedly reporter's protection under constitutional or statutory law, from being compelled to testify about confidential information or sources (Jones,2012). This situation has called for shield laws, which are used in thirty-two states, but every state has its own opinion and history of use in court cases. The Supreme Court has only had to deal with reporter’s privilege once since its creation in 1972, Branzburg v. Hayes has since been the go to case of reporter’s privilege. Cases since then have given mixed rulings on the extent
